1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an electrical apparatus and its corresponding methods to perform data processing operations to organize and manage resources. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for displaying modeling data and logical data in order to organize and manage resources.
2. Background
Manufacturing a vehicle requires a large number of connectors, harnesses, and equipment that need to be installed into the vehicle. Additionally, the manufacturing of a single vehicle may occur at several sites and the vehicle itself may be subdivided into several zones. An example of a vehicle, without limitation, is an aircraft.
An installation plan may be created for use in installing the harnesses and other equipment. The installation plan may identify all of the connectors, harnesses, and equipment that require installation, the location of parts, and identify the work needed to be done to perform the installation of the parts. The installation plan uses logical data from a database to identify the connectors, harnesses, and equipment.
The information considered in creating an installation plan may include hundreds of thousands of parts that might be installed in an aircraft. An operator looks at the information in the logical data to create an installation plan for some of the parts that are to be installed. The logical data includes a list of the parts, part identifiers and other information in a textual format.
The operator also views drawings for the aircraft in creating the installation plan. The drawings help the operator decide what parts should be included in an installation plan and where the parts should be installed. For example, the drawings may show structures to which connections of parts should be made. The installation plans may also help the operator determine what paths parts such as harnesses should be placed on in creating the installation plan. These installation plans are in paper form or may be displayed on a display device.
Looking at the logical data and the installation plans may increase the complexity of creating an installation plan, may increase the time required to develop an installation plan, and may increase the time required to review the installation plan. A three dimensional model, comprising modeling data, that describes the vehicle may also be developed to design the vehicle and plan for its manufacture. The three dimensional model of the design for the vehicle includes everything that is to be installed into the vehicle, including all of the connectors, harnesses, and equipment. For developing the installation plan, the three dimensional model is reduced to two dimensional paper schematics that are referenced when developing the installation plan. To develop the installation plan one must look to the logical data on a computer while also manually paging through the schematics on paper. This increases the complexity of and the time required for developing a quality installation plan. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.